House Call
by dS-Tiff
Summary: It's the day after Valentine's Day and Paige is still recovering from the 'flu. Doctor Tobias M. Curtis pays her a visit, but he has a lot on his mind. Fortunately for Toby his patient is a good listener and a good friend.


**_This story is set the day after the events of Nerd, Wind and Fire. I love writing these Toby and Paige friendship stories, I hope you enjoy reading them too! All comments welcome, thank you kindly._**

 **HOUSE CALL**

"Hey, Toby, what are you doing here?" Paige pulled herself up to a sitting position in the bed as her unexpected guest walked across the loft from the top of the ramp.

"Making a house call," grinned Toby. He sat on the edge of the bed and put his medical bag down on the floor. "Hope I didn't disturb you. Ralph said you were awake."

"Is Ralph still here?" asked Paige with a puzzled frown. "I thought he left with Sylvester?"

"Passed them both heading out the door," explained Toby just as Paige stifled a sneeze with the back of her hand. "And if you ask me they're up to something," he added.

"Really?" Paige sat up a little straighter. "I wondered why he was so eager to stay over with Sly again tonight." As soon as she'd finished speaking she sneezed twice more. Toby passed her the box of tissues and she gratefully pulled out three and blew her nose.

"I wouldn't worry about Ralph," Toby tried to reassure her. Even though the last thirty six hours had been crazy, even for Team Scorpion, very little escaped Toby's Harvard trained behaviourist skills and he had a pretty good idea what – or rather, who - Sylvester's little secret was about and he couldn't be happier for his young friend. "So," he said, returning his attention to his patient. "How are you feeling this afternoon?"

"Me?" asked Paige and her expression softened with a surge of empathy. She hadn't seen Toby since the day before – Valentine's Day - when the team had donated funds to help with his and Happy's fertility treatment. It wasn't often that Toby was moved to tears, but the generous gesture had had precisely that effect on the oldest of the geniuses. Within minutes Team Scorpion had raced out on their second rescue mission of the day and Paige had not had time to ask him how he was feeling. She couldn't imagine what was going through Toby's mind. "I think I should be asking you that question, don't you?" she asked him gently, before sneezing again.

"I don't have the 'flu," replied Toby with a dismissive shrug. He opened his bag and took out his thermometer, placing it on the bed beside Paige before getting out his stethoscope and draping it around his neck.

"Come on, Toby," said Paige. "Don't go all 'genius' about your… about the, er…"

"The limited motility of my sperm?" Toby finished, raising his eyebrows questioningly as he pressed the thermometer into her right ear.

"Yes, that," agreed Paige. "What I mean is I've seen you geniuses do this before and it's... it's not good." She couldn't think of anything other than Happy's favourite expression to get her point across. "You're not as bad as Walter, not by a long shot," she continued. "But the way you guys cope with emotional situations is to withdraw into science and facts instead of facing up to how you feel."

"You're absolutely right," agreed Toby as the thermometer made a beeping sound. He took it from Paige's ear, checked the readout and gave an approving nod. "But this is different," he continued. "This particular problem is entirely driven by science and facts. I have a diagnosed condition for which there is a proven scientific treatment with a very reasonable chance of success."

Paige frowned. "Now you do sound like Walter."

"That hurts," retorted Toby, clutching at his chest in mock pain. "Paige, my feelings ain't gonna make any difference to my little non-swimmers, so the best thing I can do is ignore the way I feel and carry on being the same ole' Toby I always was before I found out that they're as much use to Happy as a marshmallow wrench."

"Is that honestly what you'd be advising Walter if he and I were going through this instead?" asked Paige. "To ignore his feelings?"

"Of course not," admitted Toby. His face became serious and he took a moment to appreciate the love and support he and Happy had from Paige and the team. Even though Paige was sick her only concern was for them. Toby knew they had a tough battle ahead of them and he couldn't imagine they would ever get through it without their friends... their family. He sighed, angry with himself for believing he could ignore all his training and cope this way. "I appreciate your concern, Paige, more than I can ever say, but I'm OK. At least, I will be. I've decided I have until the end of the day to feel sorry for myself and then tomorrow Happy and I are going to see the specialist to get this thing started. How's your throat today?"

"Like I swallowed a half dozen razor blades," admitted Paige, annoyed at how quickly he deliberately changed the subject. Toby was always the first person she turned to when she needed to talk through a problem – as unlikely as that had seemed when they'd first met - and now he needed her and she wasn't sure what to say or do for the best.

Toby produced a tongue depressor from his bag. "Say aahhh," he encouraged.

"You don't have to do this," replied Paige. "I feel much better than I did yesterday."

"I'm very glad to hear it," Toby answered. "But this is something I can do, so let me… let me do it. P… p… please."

Paige was taken aback by the sudden emotion in Toby's voice "Toby…" she began, but she couldn't find the words.

Toby opened his mouth to speak, but the emotion washed over him and he couldn't say anything.

He knew fertility treatment would give him and Happy an excellent chance of having a baby, but at that moment it didn't make any difference. Paige reached out and grasped his wrist supportively and he looked down and nodded appreciatively at the gesture. His eyes felt suddenly wet with tears and he closed them tightly and concentrated on slowing his breathing.

He felt Paige squeezing his wrist. "Talk to me, Toby," she said, gently. "Don't fight against your feelings. You of all people know that's the worst thing you can do right now." She was used to dealing with geniuses and as much as Toby's skills were in no doubt when it came to helping others cope with whatever life had to throw at them, she knew it was a different story when he had to deal with his own emotions. She just hoped she could be as good a friend to him as he had been to her in the past when she'd needed a shoulder to cry on.

"I just want..." began Toby, looking directly at Paige. His voice was barely more than a whisper and Paige wished she could take away his pain. "I just want to give my beautiful, amazing wife the one thing she wants most in the world, but... but I can't and… and it hurts. It hurts more than anything."

Paige's heart broke for him. "Happy already has the one thing she wants most in the world," she said, warmly. "She has you."

Her words pushed Toby over the edge and he finally allowed the tears to fall. Paige scrambled across the bed on her knees and pulled him into a hug. She had never seen him so vulnerable. He'd come close after Mark Collins kidnapped him, but even then he hadn't fallen apart quite like this. She knew there was nothing she could say to make him feel any better so she held him for as long as he needed.

Eventually Toby composed himself enough to speak again and he freed himself from her arms. "Told you I was feeling sorry for myself today," he noted dryly.

"It's OK," Paige reassured him with a smile. She passed him a tissue and he wiped his eyes. "How's Happy?" she asked. "She looked exhausted after the bus rescue."

"She's taking a nap," replied Toby. "She wanted to work on the bike this afternoon, but two dangerous rescue missions in one day, plus all this emotional crap I've piled onto her have really taken it out of her and she didn't have any energy."

"Toby, listen to me," urged Paige. "This is not your fault and you know it. Happy isn't blaming you, so stop blaming yourself. You have to work through this, you know you can't just flick a switch tomorrow and feel OK again."

Toby nodded slowly. "Maybe not," he admitted. "But I am gonna focus on Happy, because I have to. She's already wound tighter than East Coast Donnie was when he finally realised I'd been counting cards... but that's another story. What I'm saying is Happy needs me to stay calm. I can do that, I'm a doctor, I have a lot of patients! Patients… patience… geddit?"

Paige rolled her eyes. "I get it, Toby." She was pleased to see the familiar grin had returned to his face. "And I know you want to take care of Happy, but you have to take care of yourself too."

"I know," replied Toby. "That's why I realised I had to get away for a few hours today to try to work through everything and I figured I could either do something really dumb, or come here and give you a check-up."

"Something really dumb, like…" Paige trailed off. She knew that not that long ago Toby would have gone to the nearest casino and tried to gamble his troubles away. She also knew that he promised Happy he would never place another bet again and she was confident he would never break that promise, but as an addict the temptation would always be there for him.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't… I couldn't…" replied Toby, trying his best to reassure his friend. "But… but it doesn't mean I don't think about it sometimes. Anyway, are you going to let me examine you, or not?"

Paige smiled. "Of course," she consented and opened her mouth as wide as she could. She could see how much he needed a distraction today and if being Doctor Curtis for a while was helping him she could tolerate a little fussing from her friend.

Toby winced as he looked at her throat with his penlight. "No sign of infection, but it looks pretty sore," he said.

"Florence's home remedy is really helping," Paige explained as Toby gently palpated along her jawline and down to her neck with his fingers.

"Your lymph glands are a little swollen," he said with a slight frown.

"This 'flu sucks," replied Paige. "But when Walter gets back from Homeland, can you please tell him I'm fine and I don't need him fussing over me anymore."

"One Ninety Seven driving you a little crazy?" asked Toby with a grin.

"Yes he is," she replied. "I don't know how much more of Nurse Walter I can take."

"There's an image I can't erase," said Toby, screwing up his nose in disgust. "And it's totally ruined one of Happy's favourite costume choices for bedtime fun."

"Eeew, I don't want to know!" exclaimed Paige.

"Hey, if anyone's allowed to play doctors and nurses it's me, don't you think?" Toby replied with a smirk.

"I'm pretty sure that's not what they teach you at medical school," noted Paige.

"You've never been to med school," Toby answered with a knowing wink.

"Just check my blood pressure or something, will you," urged Paige. She grabbed another tissue from the box and blew her nose again, but the blowing action only set off an uncontrollable coughing fit.

Toby frowned as she struggled to catch her breath and he took the stethoscope from around his neck.

"I haven't had 'flu like this in years," she explained. "Not since before Ralph was born. I even avoided that last outbreak of bird 'flu."

"Y'know, the great thing about bird 'flu?" grinned Toby. "It's tweetable!"

Paige turned her head away in an attempt to stop him from seeing that she was giggling. "I'm only laughing at that truly awful pun because I'm sick," she said, trying to justify her response.

"Laughter is the best medicine," noted Toby with a knowing smirk. "And it boosts your immune system," he added. "It increases the production of antibodies in your saliva to help fight bacteria and viruses."

"I did not know that," replied Paige, with genuine interest. "I just hope I haven't passed this onto anyone."

"I think Sly sprayed enough disinfectant around yesterday to kill off all known pathogens," replied Toby.

Paige allowed Toby to finish his examination. He listened to her chest, checked her blood pressure and generally satisfied himself that she was on the mend. "You still need to rest, but you should be fine in a couple days," he said in a reassuring tone. "Just keep up the fluids and if that wheeze gets worse overnight then call me," he added.

Paige smiled appreciatively. "Yes, Doctor," she replied and her smile turned into a grin.

Toby smiled back. "Y'know, I think I should start insisting everyone calls me that around here," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "I deserve some respect, don't y'think? I earned that title!"

"Good luck getting Walter to agree to that," said Paige, rolling her eyes. She settled herself back against the pillows and pulled the covers up to her chest.

Toby laughed as he started to pack away his equipment. Then he narrowed his eyes as a thought crossed his mind. "You know it would be easy for me to plant subliminal messages to condition them to do it," he said. "They'd never even notice. What would you like me to programme Walter to call you? 'Ma'am'? 'Your Royal Highness', perhaps?"

Paige giggled. The prospect of Walter calling her 'Your Royal Highness' was strangely appealing, especially at certain times… intimate times… She suddenly caught Toby looking at her and blushed hard as she realised he had figured out exactly what she was thinking.

"I can do it," he said with a wink. "Just say the word."

"No!" exclaimed Paige. "Now, I thought you said I needed to rest."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" he asked, feigning offence.

"Yes!" laughed Paige. Then her expression became more serious. "Go home to your wife," she said. "And talk to her, please. I know her EQ is only a couple points higher than Walter's, but she understands you. She won't want you to shut her out."

Toby nodded. "I know, I know," he replied seriously. "I will." He got to his feet and slung his med bag over his shoulder. "Thank you for indulging me," he said. "And I'm sorry for turning into an emotional wreck."

"Hey, it's OK," she replied. "I'm here if you need to do it again, any time." She reached out her arms and Toby leaned in for a hug. He gave her a friendly peck on the cheek before walking off down the stairs.

Paige watched him go and sighed. "They don't deserve this," she whispered under her breath. She knew Toby and Happy's only hope for a family of their own now lay in the realm of medical science, but somehow, for Scorpion, it seemed strangely appropriate.

THE END.


End file.
